Solarpunk is the speculative fiction genre that replaced dystopian doom with solar panels, community gardens, and radical hope. A complete introduction to the genre's origins, subgenres, key writers — Becky Chambers, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nnedi Okorafor, Ursula Le Guin — and how it compares to science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and horror.
I see it as a counter to capitalist realism. It’s a world that could have been if the 20th century had been spent building for the future, proof that a better world is possible not just morally but in terms of the personal prosperity and happiness of literally everyone.
It’s fuel for rage at our lost potential. But it’s also a call for us to be the change we want to see. Even if we can’t manage a solarpunk future in the next century or two amidst all the climate catastrophes, we can help the millions or perhaps billions of people that make it through get as close as we can get them.
I see it as a counter to capitalist realism. It’s a world that could have been if the 20th century had been spent building for the future, proof that a better world is possible not just morally but in terms of the personal prosperity and happiness of literally everyone.
It’s fuel for rage at our lost potential. But it’s also a call for us to be the change we want to see. Even if we can’t manage a solarpunk future in the next century or two amidst all the climate catastrophes, we can help the millions or perhaps billions of people that make it through get as close as we can get them.